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The effects of anesthetics on the injured brain continue to be the subject of controversial discussion. Since isoflurane has recently been shown to induce apoptosis of cerebral endothelial cells, this study compared different anesthetic compounds regarding their potential to induce cerebro-vascular apoptosis.

Cerebral aneurysms are abnormal widening or ballooning of a localized segment of an intracranial blood vessel. Surgical clipping is an important treatment for aneurysms which attempts to exclude blood from flowing into the aneurysmal segment of the vessel while preserving blood flow in a normal fashion. Improper clip placement may result in residual aneurysm with the potential for subsequent aneurysm rupture or partial or full occlusion of distal arteries resulting in cerebral infarction. Here we describe the use of an ultrasonic flow probe to provide quantitative evaluation of arterial flow before and after microsurgical clip placement at the base of a middle cerebral artery aneurysm. This information helps ensure adequate aneurysm reconstruction with preservation of normal distal blood flow.

Institutions: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Anastasis (Greek for “rising to life”) refers to the recovery of dying cells. Before these cells recover, they have passed through important checkpoints of apoptosis, including mitochondrial fragmentation, release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol, activation of caspases, chromatin condensation, DNA damage, nuclear fragmentation, plasma membrane blebbing, cell shrinkage, cell surface exposure of phosphatidylserine, and formation of apoptotic bodies. Anastasis can occur when apoptotic stimuli are removed prior to death, thereby allowing dying cells to reverse apoptosis and potentially other death mechanisms. Therefore, anastasis appears to involve physiological healing processes that could also sustain damaged cells inappropriately. The functions and mechanisms of anastasis are still unclear, hampered in part by the limited tools for detecting past events after the recovery of apparently healthy cells. Strategies to detect anastasis will enable studies of the physiological mechanisms, the hazards of undead cells in disease pathology, and potential therapeutics to modulate anastasis. Here, we describe effective strategies using live cell microscopy and a mammalian caspase biosensor for identifying and tracking anastasis in mammalian cells.

Early brain injury and delayed cerebral vasospasm both contribute to unfavorable outcomes after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Reproducible and controllable animal models that simulate both conditions are presently uncommon. Therefore, new models are needed in order to mimic human pathophysiological conditions resulting from SAH.
This report describes the technical nuances of a rabbit blood-shunt SAH model that enables control of intracerebral pressure (ICP). An extracorporeal shunt is placed between the arterial system and the subarachnoid space, which enables examiner-independent SAH in a closed cranium. Step-by-step procedural instructions and necessary equipment are described, as well as technical considerations to produce the model with minimal mortality and morbidity. Important details required for successful surgical creation of this robust, simple and consistent ICP-controlled SAH rabbit model are described.

Institutions: University of Münster, Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF) Münster, University of Münster.

The blood-brain-barrier is ultrastructurally assembled by a monolayer of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC) interconnected by a junctional complex of tight and adherens junctions. Together with other cell-types such as astrocytes or pericytes, they form the neurovascular unit (NVU), which specifically regulates the interchange of fluids, molecules and cells between the peripheral blood and the CNS. Through this complex and dynamic system BMECs are involved in various processes maintaining the homeostasis of the CNS. A dysfunction of the BBB is observed as an essential step in the pathogenesis of many severe CNS diseases. However, specific and targeted therapies are very limited, as the underlying mechanisms are still far from being understood.
Animal and in vitro models have been extensively used to gain in-depth understanding of complex physiological and pathophysiological processes. By reduction and simplification it is possible to focus the investigation on the subject of interest and to exclude a variety of confounding factors. However, comparability and transferability are also reduced in model systems, which have to be taken into account for evaluation. The most common animal models are based on mice, among other reasons, mainly due to the constantly increasing possibilities of methodology. In vitro studies of isolated murine BMECs might enable an in-depth analysis of their properties and of the blood-brain-barrier under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Further insights into the complex mechanisms at the BBB potentially provide the basis for new therapeutic strategies.
This protocol describes a method to isolate primary murine microvascular endothelial cells by a sequence of physical and chemical purification steps. Special considerations for purity and cultivation of MBMECs as well as quality control, potential applications and limitations are discussed.

Sublethal ischemia protects tissues against subsequent, more severe ischemia through the upregulation of endogenous mechanisms in the affected tissue. Sublethal ischemia has also been shown to upregulate protective mechanisms in remote tissues. A brief period of ischemia (5-10 min) in the hind limb of mammals induces self-protective responses in the brain, lung, heart and retina. The effect is known as remote ischemic preconditioning (RIP). It is a therapeutically promising way of protecting vital organs, and is already under clinical trials for heart and brain injuries. This publication demonstrates a controlled, minimally invasive method of making a limb – specifically the hind limb of a rat – ischemic. A blood pressure cuff developed for use in human neonates is connected to a manual sphygmomanometer and used to apply 160 mmHg pressure around the upper part of the hind limb. A probe designed to detect skin temperature is used to verify the ischemia, by recording the drop in skin temperature caused by pressure-induced occlusion of the leg arteries, and the rise in temperature which follows release of the cuff. This method of RIP affords protection to the rat retina against bright light-induced damage and degeneration.

Percutaneous interventions including balloon angioplasty and stenting have been used to restore blood flow in vessels with occlusive vascular disease. While these therapies lead to the rapid restoration of blood flow, these technologies remain limited by restenosis in the case of bare metal stents and angioplasty, or reduced healing and possibly enhanced risk of thrombosis in the case of drug eluting stents. A key pathophysiological mechanism in the formation of restenosis is intimal hyperplasia caused by the activation of vascular smooth muscle cells and inflammation due to arterial stretch and injury. Surgeries that induce arterial injury in genetically modified mice are useful for the mechanistic study of the vascular response to injury but are often technically challenging to perform in mouse models due to the their small size and lack of appropriate sized devices. We describe two approaches for a surgical technique that induces endothelial denudation and arterial stretch in the femoral artery of mice to produce robust neointimal hyperplasia. The first approach creates an arteriotomy in the muscular branch of the femoral artery to obtain vascular access. Following wire injury this arterial branch is ligated to close the arteriotomy. A second approach creates an arteriotomy in the main femoral artery that is later closed through localized cautery. This method allows for vascular access through a larger vessel and, consequently, provides a less technically demanding procedure that can be used in smaller mice. Following either method of arterial injury, a degradable drug delivery patch can be placed over or around the injured artery to deliver therapeutic agents.

A Rat Model of Ventricular Fibrillation and Resuscitation by Conventional Closed-chest Technique

Authors: Lorissa Lamoureux, Jeejabai Radhakrishnan, Raúl J. Gazmuri.

Institutions: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

A rat model of electrically-induced ventricular fibrillation followed by cardiac resuscitation using a closed chest technique that incorporates the basic components of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in humans is herein described. The model was developed in 1988 and has been used in approximately 70 peer-reviewed publications examining a myriad of resuscitation aspects including its physiology and pathophysiology, determinants of resuscitability, pharmacologic interventions, and even the effects of cell therapies. The model featured in this presentation includes: (1) vascular catheterization to measure aortic and right atrial pressures, to measure cardiac output by thermodilution, and to electrically induce ventricular fibrillation; and (2) tracheal intubation for positive pressure ventilation with oxygen enriched gas and assessment of the end-tidal CO2. A typical sequence of intervention entails: (1) electrical induction of ventricular fibrillation, (2) chest compression using a mechanical piston device concomitantly with positive pressure ventilation delivering oxygen-enriched gas, (3) electrical shocks to terminate ventricular fibrillation and reestablish cardiac activity, (4) assessment of post-resuscitation hemodynamic and metabolic function, and (5) assessment of survival and recovery of organ function. A robust inventory of measurements is available that includes – but is not limited to – hemodynamic, metabolic, and tissue measurements. The model has been highly effective in developing new resuscitation concepts and examining novel therapeutic interventions before their testing in larger and translationally more relevant animal models of cardiac arrest and resuscitation.

Birth asphyxia, which causes hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), accounts for 0.66 million deaths worldwide each year, about a quarter of the world’s 2.9 million neonatal deaths. Animal models of HIE have contributed to the understanding of the pathophysiology in HIE, and have highlighted the dynamic process that occur in brain injury due to perinatal asphyxia. Thus, animal studies have suggested a time-window for post-insult treatment strategies. Hypothermia has been tested as a treatment for HIE in pdiglet models and subsequently proven effective in clinical trials. Variations of the model have been applied in the study of adjunctive neuroprotective methods and piglet studies of xenon and melatonin have led to clinical phase I and II trials1,2. The piglet HIE model is further used for neonatal resuscitation- and hemodynamic studies as well as in investigations of cerebral hypoxia on a cellular level. However, it is a technically challenging model and variations in the protocol may result in either too mild or too severe brain injury. In this article, we demonstrate the technical procedures necessary for establishing a stable piglet model of neonatal HIE. First, the newborn piglet (< 24 hr old, median weight 1500 g) is anesthetized, intubated, and monitored in a setup comparable to that found in a neonatal intensive care unit. Global hypoxia-ischemia is induced by lowering the inspiratory oxygen fraction to achieve global hypoxia, ischemia through hypotension and a flat trace amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) indicative of cerebral hypoxia. Survival is promoted by adjusting oxygenation according to the aEEG response and blood pressure. Brain injury is quantified by histopathology and magnetic resonance imaging after 72 hr.

Institutions: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the developed world. Narrowing of the vessel lumen, due to atherosclerotic plaque development or the rupturing of established plaques, interrupts normal blood flow leading to various morbidities such as myocardial infarction and stroke. In the clinic endovascular procedures such as angioplasty are commonly performed to reopen the lumen. However, these treatments inevitably damage the vessel wall as well as the vascular endothelium, triggering an excessive healing response and the development of a neointimal plaque that extends into the lumen causing vessel restenosis (re-narrowing). Restenosis remains a major cause of failure of endovascular treatments for atherosclerosis. Thus, preclinical animal models of restenosis are vitally important for investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms as well as translational approaches to vascular interventions. Among several murine experimental models, femoral artery wire injury is widely accepted as the most suitable for studies of post-angioplasty restenosis because it closely resembles the angioplasty procedure that injures both endothelium and vessel wall. However, many researchers have difficulty utilizing this model due to its high degree of technical difficulty. This is primarily because a metal wire needs to be inserted into the femoral artery, which is approximately three times thinner than the wire, to generate sufficient injury to induce prominent neointima. Here, we describe the essential surgical details to effectively overcome the major technical difficulties of this model. By following the presented procedures, performing the mouse femoral artery wire injury becomes easier. Once familiarized, the whole procedure can be completed within 20 min.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease affecting distal pulmonary arteries (PA). These arteries are deformed, leading to right ventricular failure. Current treatments are limited. Physiologically, pulsatile blood flow is detrimental to the vasculature. In response to sustained pulsatile stress, vessels release nitric oxide (NO) to induce vasodilation for self-protection. Based on this observation, this study developed a protocol to assess whether an artificial pulmonary pulsatile blood flow could induce an NO-dependent decrease in pulmonary artery pressure. One group of piglets was exposed to chronic hypoxia for 3 weeks and compared to a control group of piglets. Once a week, the piglets underwent echocardiography to assess PAH severity. At the end of hypoxia exposure, the piglets were subjected to a pulsatile protocol using a pulsatile catheter. After being anesthetized and prepared for surgery, the jugular vein of the piglet was isolated and the catheter was introduced through the right atrium, the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery, under radioscopic control. Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) was measured before (T0), immediately after (T1) and 30 min after (T2) the pulsatile protocol. It was demonstrated that this pulsatile protocol is a safe and efficient method of inducing a significant reduction in mean PAP via an NO-dependent mechanism. These data open up new avenues for the clinical management of PAH.

Institutions: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Washington University School of Medicine.

Experimental animal models of stroke are invaluable tools for understanding stroke pathology and developing more effective treatment strategies. A 2 week protocol for repetitive hypoxic preconditioning (RHP) induces long-term protection against central nervous system (CNS) injury in a mouse model of focal ischemic stroke. RHP consists of 9 stochastic exposures to hypoxia that vary in both duration (2 or 4 hr) and intensity (8% and 11% O2). RHP reduces infarct volumes, blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, and the post-stroke inflammatory response for weeks following the last exposure to hypoxia, suggesting a long-term induction of an endogenous CNS-protective phenotype. The methodology for the dual quantification of infarct volume and BBB disruption is effective in assessing neurovascular protection in mice with RHP or other putative neuroprotectants. Adult male Swiss Webster mice were preconditioned by RHP or duration-equivalent exposures to 21% O2 (i.e. room air). A 60 min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo) was induced 2 weeks following the last hypoxic exposure. Both the occlusion and reperfusion were confirmed by transcranial laser Doppler flowmetry. Twenty-two hr after reperfusion, Evans Blue (EB) was intravenously administered through a tail vein injection. 2 hr later, animals were sacrificed by isoflurane overdose and brain sections were stained with 2,3,5- triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC). Infarcts volumes were then quantified. Next, EB was extracted from the tissue over 48 hr to determine BBB disruption after tMCAo. In summary, RHP is a simple protocol that can be replicated, with minimal cost, to induce long-term endogenous neurovascular protection from stroke injury in mice, with the translational potential for other CNS-based and systemic pro-inflammatory disease states.

Ischemia-Reperfusion (IR) injury is known to contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality associated with ischemic strokes. Ischemic cerebrovascular accidents account for 80% of all strokes. A common cause of IR injury is the rapid inflow of fluids following an acute/chronic occlusion of blood, nutrients, oxygen to the tissue triggering the formation of free radicals.
Ischemic stroke is followed by blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction and vasogenic brain edema. Structurally, tight junctions (TJs) between the endothelial cells play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). IR injury is an early secondary injury leading to a non-specific, inflammatory response. Oxidative and metabolic stress following inflammation triggers secondary brain damage including BBB permeability and disruption of tight junction (TJ) integrity.
Our protocol presents an in vitro example of oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD-R) on rat brain endothelial cell TJ integrity and stress fiber formation. Currently, several experimental in vivo models are used to study the effects of IR injury; however they have several limitations, such as the technical challenges in performing surgeries, gene dependent molecular influences and difficulty in studying mechanistic relationships. However, in vitro models may aid in overcoming many of those limitations. The presented protocol can be used to study the various molecular mechanisms and mechanistic relationships to provide potential therapeutic strategies. However, the results of in vitro studies may differ from standard in vivo studies and should be interpreted with caution.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) specifically regulates molecular and cellular flux between the blood and the nervous tissue. Our aim was to develop and characterize a highly reproducible rat syngeneic in vitro model of the BBB using co-cultures of primary rat brain endothelial cells (RBEC) and astrocytes to study receptors involved in transcytosis across the endothelial cell monolayer. Astrocytes were isolated by mechanical dissection following trypsin digestion and were frozen for later co-culture. RBEC were isolated from 5-week-old rat cortices. The brains were cleaned of meninges and white matter, and mechanically dissociated following enzymatic digestion. Thereafter, the tissue homogenate was centrifuged in bovine serum albumin to separate vessel fragments from nervous tissue. The vessel fragments underwent a second enzymatic digestion to free endothelial cells from their extracellular matrix. The remaining contaminating cells such as pericytes were further eliminated by plating the microvessel fragments in puromycin-containing medium. They were then passaged onto filters for co-culture with astrocytes grown on the bottom of the wells. RBEC expressed high levels of tight junction (TJ) proteins such as occludin, claudin-5 and ZO-1 with a typical localization at the cell borders. The transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) of brain endothelial monolayers, indicating the tightness of TJs reached 300 ohm·cm2 on average. The endothelial permeability coefficients (Pe) for lucifer yellow (LY) was highly reproducible with an average of 0.26 ± 0.11 x 10-3 cm/min. Brain endothelial cells organized in monolayers expressed the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), showed a polarized transport of rhodamine 123, a ligand for P-gp, and showed specific transport of transferrin-Cy3 and DiILDL across the endothelial cell monolayer. In conclusion, we provide a protocol for setting up an in vitro BBB model that is highly reproducible due to the quality assurance methods, and that is suitable for research on BBB transporters and receptors.

Assessing Changes in Volatile General Anesthetic Sensitivity of Mice after Local or Systemic Pharmacological Intervention

Authors: Hilary S. McCarren, Jason T. Moore, Max B. Kelz.

Institutions: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

One desirable endpoint of general anesthesia is the state of unconsciousness, also known as hypnosis. Defining the hypnotic state in animals is less straightforward than it is in human patients. A widely used behavioral surrogate for hypnosis in rodents is the loss of righting reflex (LORR), or the point at which the animal no longer responds to their innate instinct to avoid the vulnerability of dorsal recumbency. We have developed a system to assess LORR in 24 mice simultaneously while carefully controlling for potential confounds, including temperature fluctuations and varying gas flows. These chambers permit reliable assessment of anesthetic sensitivity as measured by latency to return of the righting reflex (RORR) following a fixed anesthetic exposure. Alternatively, using stepwise increases (or decreases) in anesthetic concentration, the chambers also enable determination of a population's sensitivity to induction (or emergence) as measured by EC50 and Hill slope. Finally, the controlled environmental chambers described here can be adapted for a variety of alternative uses, including inhaled delivery of other drugs, toxicology studies, and simultaneous real-time monitoring of vital signs.

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are CNS neurons that output visual information from the retina to the brain, via the optic nerve.
The optic nerve can be accessed within the orbit of the eye and completely transected (axotomized), cutting the axons of the entire RGC population. Optic nerve
transection is a reproducible model of apoptotic neuronal cell death in the adult CNS 1-4. This model is particularly attractive because the vitreous
chamber of the eye acts as a capsule for drug delivery to the retina, permitting experimental manipulations via intraocular injections. The diffusion of chemicals
through the vitreous fluid ensures that they act upon the entire RGC population. Moreover, RGCs can be selectively transfected by applying short interfering RNAs
(siRNAs), plasmids, or viral vectors to the cut end of the optic nerve 5-7 or injecting vectors into their target, the superior colliculus 8.
This allows researchers to study apoptotic mechanisms in the desired neuronal population without confounding effects on other bystander neurons or surrounding glia.
An additional benefit is the ease and accuracy with which cell survival can be quantified after injury. The retina is a flat, layered tissue and RGCs are localized in
the innermost layer, the ganglion cell layer. The survival of RGCs can be tracked over time by applying a fluorescent tracer (3% Fluorogold) to the cut end of the
optic nerve at the time of axotomy, or by injecting the tracer into the superior colliculus (RGC target) one week prior to axotomy. The tracer is retrogradely transported, labeling
the entire RGC population. Because the ganglion cell layer is a monolayer (one cell thick), RGC densities can be quantified in flat-mounted tissue, without the need
for stereology. Optic nerve transection leads to the apoptotic death of 90% of injured RGCs within 14 days postaxotomy 9-11. RGC apoptosis has a
characteristic time-course whereby cell death is delayed 3-4 days postaxotomy, after which the cells rapidly degenerate. This provides a time window for
experimental manipulations directed against pathways involved in apoptosis.

Exercise is a physiological stimulus capable of inducing apoptosis in immune cells. To date, various limitations have been identified with the measurement of this phenomenon, particularly relating to the amount of time required to isolate and treat a blood sample prior to the assessment of cell death. Because of this, it is difficult to determine whether reported increases in immune cell apoptosis can be contributed to the actual effect of exercise on the system, or are a reflection of the time and processing necessary to eventually obtain this measurement. In this article we demonstrate a rapid and minimally invasive procedure for the analysis of exercise-induced lymphocyte apoptosis. Unlike other techniques, whole blood is added to an antibody panel immediately upon obtaining a sample. Following the incubation period, red blood cells are lysed and samples are ready to be analyzed. The use of a finger-stick sampling procedure reduces the volume of blood required, and minimizes the discomfort to subjects.

Animal models serve a vital role in deep venous thrombosis (DVT) research in order to study thrombus formation, thrombus resolution and to test potential therapeutic compounds (1). New compounds to be utilized in the treatment and prevention of DVT are currently being developed. The delivery of potential therapeutic antagonist compounds to an affected thrombosed vein has been problematic. In the context of therapeutic applications, a model that uses partial stasis and consistently generates thrombi within a major vein has been recently established. The Electrolytic Inferior vena cava Model (EIM) is mouse model of DVT that permits thrombus formation in the presence of continuous blood flow. This model allows therapeutic agents to be in contact with the thrombus in a dynamic fashion, and is more sensitive than other models of DVT (1). In addition, this thrombosis model closely simulates clinical situations of thrombus formation and is ideal to study venous endothelial cell activation, leukocyte migration, venous thrombogenesis, and to test therapeutic applications (1). The EIM model is technically simple, easily reproducible, creates consistent thrombi sizes and allows for a large sample (i.e. thrombus and vein wall) which is required for analytical purposes.

A Matrigel-Based Tube Formation Assay to Assess the Vasculogenic Activity of Tumor Cells

Authors: Ralph A. Francescone III, Michael Faibish, Rong Shao.

Institutions: University of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts.

Over the past several decades, a tube formation assay using growth factor-reduced Matrigel has been typically employed to demonstrate the angiogenic activity of vascular endothelial cells in vitro1-5. However, recently growing evidence has shown that this assay is not limited to test vascular behavior for endothelial cells. Instead, it also has been used to test the ability of a number of tumor cells to develop a vascular phenotype6-8. This capability was consistent with their vasculogenic behavior identified in xenotransplanted animals, a process known as vasculogenic mimicry (VM)9. There is a multitude of evidence demonstrating that tumor cell-mediated VM plays a vital role in the tumor development, independent of endothelial cell angiogenesis6, 10-13. For example, tumor cells were found to participate in the blood perfused, vascular channel formation in tissue samples from melanoma and glioblastoma patients8, 10, 11. Here, we described this tubular network assay as a useful tool in evaluation of vasculogenic activity of tumor cells. We found that some tumor cell lines such as melanoma B16F1 cells, glioblastoma U87 cells, and breast cancer MDA-MB-435 cells are able to form vascular tubules; but some do not such as colon cancer HCT116 cells. Furthermore, this vascular phenotype is dependent on cell numbers plated on the Matrigel. Therefore, this assay may serve as powerful utility to screen the vascular potential of a variety of cell types including vascular cells, tumor cells as well as other cells.

Annually more than 1 million neonates die worldwide as related to asphyxia. Asphyxiated neonates commonly have multi-organ failure including hypotension, perfusion deficit, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, pulmonary hypertension, vasculopathic enterocolitis, renal failure and thrombo-embolic complications. Animal models are developed to help us understand the patho-physiology and pharmacology of neonatal asphyxia. In comparison to rodents and newborn lambs, the newborn piglet has been proven to be a valuable model. The newborn piglet has several advantages including similar development as that of 36-38 weeks human fetus with comparable body systems, large body size (˜1.5-2 kg at birth) that allows the instrumentation and monitoring of the animal and controls the confounding variables of hypoxia and hemodynamic derangements.
We here describe an experimental protocol to simulate neonatal asphyxia and allow us to examine the systemic and regional hemodynamic changes during the asphyxiating and reoxygenation process as well as the respective effects of interventions. Further, the model has the advantage of studying multi-organ failure or dysfunction simultaneously and the interaction with various body systems. The experimental model is a non-survival procedure that involves the surgical instrumentation of newborn piglets (1-3 day-old and 1.5-2.5 kg weight, mixed breed) to allow the establishment of mechanical ventilation, vascular (arterial and central venous) access and the placement of catheters and flow probes (Transonic Inc.) for the continuously monitoring of intra-vascular pressure and blood flow across different arteries including main pulmonary, common carotid, superior mesenteric and left renal arteries. Using these surgically instrumented piglets, after stabilization for 30-60 minutes as defined by Z<10% variation in hemodynamic parameters and normal blood gases, we commence an experimental protocol of severe hypoxemia which is induced via normocapnic alveolar hypoxia. The piglet is ventilated with 10-15% oxygen by increasing the inhaled concentration of nitrogen gas for 2h, aiming for arterial oxygen saturations of 30-40%. This degree of hypoxemia will produce clinical asphyxia with severe metabolic acidosis, systemic hypotension and cardiogenic shock with hypoperfusion to vital organs. The hypoxia is followed by reoxygenation with 100% oxygen for 0.5h and then 21% oxygen for 3.5h. Pharmacologic interventions can be introduced in due course and their effects investigated in a blinded, block-randomized fashion.

Enhancement of Apoptotic and Autophagic Induction by a Novel Synthetic C-1 Analogue of 7-deoxypancratistatin in Human Breast Adenocarcinoma and Neuroblastoma Cells with Tamoxifen

Authors: Dennis Ma, Jonathan Collins, Tomas Hudlicky, Siyaram Pandey.

Institutions: University of Windsor, Brock University.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers amongst women in North America. Many current anti-cancer treatments, including ionizing radiation, induce apoptosis via DNA damage. Unfortunately, such treatments are non-selective to cancer cells and produce similar toxicity in normal cells. We have reported selective induction of apoptosis in cancer cells by the natural compound pancratistatin (PST). Recently, a novel PST analogue, a C-1 acetoxymethyl derivative of 7-deoxypancratistatin (JCTH-4), was produced by de novo synthesis and it exhibits comparable selective apoptosis inducing activity in several cancer cell lines. Recently, autophagy has been implicated in malignancies as both pro-survival and pro-death mechanisms in response to chemotherapy. Tamoxifen (TAM) has invariably demonstrated induction of pro-survival autophagy in numerous cancers. In this study, the efficacy of JCTH-4 alone and in combination with TAM to induce cell death in human breast cancer (MCF7) and neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells was evaluated. TAM alone induced autophagy, but insignificant cell death whereas JCTH-4 alone caused significant induction of apoptosis with some induction of autophagy. Interestingly, the combinatory treatment yielded a drastic increase in apoptotic and autophagic induction. We monitored time-dependent morphological changes in MCF7 cells undergoing TAM-induced autophagy, JCTH-4-induced apoptosis and autophagy, and accelerated cell death with combinatorial treatment using time-lapse microscopy. We have demonstrated these compounds to induce apoptosis/autophagy by mitochondrial targeting in these cancer cells. Importantly, these treatments did not affect the survival of noncancerous human fibroblasts. Thus, these results indicate that JCTH-4 in combination with TAM could be used as a safe and very potent anti-cancer therapy against breast cancer and neuroblastoma cells.

Generation of an Immortalized Murine Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cell Line as an In Vitro Blood Brain Barrier Model

Authors: Malgorzata Burek, Ellaine Salvador, Carola Y. Förster.

Institutions: University of Wurzburg.

Epithelial and endothelial cells (EC) are building paracellular barriers which protect the tissue from the external and internal environment. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) consisting of EC, astrocyte end-feet, pericytes and the basal membrane is responsible for the protection and homeostasis of the brain parenchyma. In vitro BBB models are common tools to study the structure and function of the BBB at the cellular level. A considerable number of different in vitro BBB models have been established for research in different laboratories to date. Usually, the cells are obtained from bovine, porcine, rat or mouse brain tissue (discussed in detail in the review by Wilhelm et al.1). Human tissue samples are available only in a restricted number of laboratories or companies 2,3. While primary cell preparations are time consuming and the EC cultures can differ from batch to batch, the establishment of immortalized EC lines is the focus of scientific interest.
Here, we present a method for establishing an immortalized brain microvascular EC line from neonatal mouse brain. We describe the procedure step-by-step listing the reagents and solutions used. The method established by our lab allows the isolation of a homogenous immortalized endothelial cell line within four to five weeks. The brain microvascular endothelial cell lines termed cEND 4 (from cerebral cortex) and cerebEND 5 (from cerebellar cortex), were isolated according to this procedure in the Förster laboratory and have been effectively used for explanation of different physiological and pathological processes at the BBB. Using cEND and cerebEND we have demonstrated that these cells respond to glucocorticoid- 4,6-9 and estrogen-treatment 10 as well as to pro-infammatory mediators, such as TNFalpha 5,8. Moreover, we have studied the pathology of multiple sclerosis 11 and hypoxia 12,13 on the EC-level. The cEND and cerebEND lines can be considered as a good tool for studying the structure and function of the BBB, cellular responses of ECs to different stimuli or interaction of the EC with lymphocytes or cancer cells.

Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion as an Adequate Preconditioning Stimulus to Induce Early Ischemic Tolerance to Focal Cerebral Ischemia

Authors: Lukas Julius Speetzen, Matthias Endres, Alexander Kunz.

Institutions: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

There is accumulating evidence, that ischemic preconditioning - a non-damaging ischemic challenge to the brain - confers a transient protection to a subsequent damaging ischemic insult. We have established bilateral common carotid artery occlusion as a preconditioning stimulus to induce early ischemic tolerance to transient focal cerebral ischemia in C57Bl6/J mice. In this video, we will demonstrate the methodology used for this study.

Institutions: Wayne State University School of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Cardiac arrest followed by resuscitation often results in dramatic brain damage caused by ischemia and subsequent reperfusion of the brain. Global brain ischemia produces damage to specific brain regions shown to be highly sensitive to ischemia 1. Hippocampal neurons have higher sensitivity to ischemic insults compared to other cell populations, and specifically, the CA1 region of the hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to ischemia/reperfusion 2.
The design of therapeutic interventions, or study of mechanisms involved in cerebral damage, requires a model that produces damage similar to the clinical condition and in a reproducible manner. Bilateral carotid vessel occlusion with hypotension (2VOH) is a model that produces reversible forebrain ischemia, emulating the cerebral events that can occur during cardiac arrest and resuscitation. We describe a model modified from Smith et al. (1984) 2, as first presented in its current form in Sanderson, et al. (2008) 3, which produces reproducible injury to selectively vulnerable brain regions 3-6. The reliability of this model is dictated by precise control of systemic blood pressure during applied hypotension, the duration of ischemia, close temperature control, a specific anesthesia regimen, and diligent post-operative care. An 8-minute ischemic insult produces cell death of CA1 hippocampal neurons that progresses over the course of 6 to 24 hr of reperfusion, while less vulnerable brain regions are spared. This progressive cell death is easily quantified after 7-14 days of reperfusion, as a near complete loss of CA1 neurons is evident at this time.
In addition to this brain injury model, we present a method for CA1 damage quantification using a simple, yet thorough, methodology. Importantly, quantification can be accomplished using a simple camera-mounted microscope, and a free ImageJ (NIH) software plugin, obviating the need for cost-prohibitive stereology software programs and a motorized microscopic stage for damage assessment.

Improved Method for the Preparation of a Human Cell-based, Contact Model of the Blood-Brain Barrier

Authors: Be'eri Niego, Robert L. Medcalf.

Institutions: Monash University.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) comprises impermeable but adaptable brain capillaries which tightly control the brain environment. Failure of the BBB has been implied in the etiology of many brain pathologies, creating a need for development of human in vitro BBB models to assist in clinically-relevant research. Among the numerous BBB models thus far described, a static (without flow), contact BBB model, where astrocytes and brain endothelial cells (BECs) are cocultured on the opposite sides of a porous membrane, emerged as a simplified yet authentic system to simulate the BBB with high throughput screening capacity. Nevertheless the generation of such model presents few technical challenges. Here, we describe a protocol for preparation of a contact human BBB model utilizing a novel combination of primary human BECs and immortalized human astrocytes. Specifically, we detail an innovative method for cell-seeding on inverted inserts as well as specify insert staining techniques and exemplify how we use our model for BBB-related research.

Acute alveolar hypoxia causes pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) - also known as von Euler-Liljestrand mechanism - which serves to match lung perfusion to ventilation. Up to now, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The major vascular segment contributing to HPV is the intra-acinar artery. This vessel section is responsible for the blood supply of an individual acinus, which is defined as the portion of lung distal to a terminal bronchiole. Intra-acinar arteries are mostly located in that part of the lung that cannot be selectively reached by a number of commonly used techniques such as measurement of the pulmonary artery pressure in isolated perfused lungs or force recordings from dissected proximal pulmonary artery segments1,2. The analysis of subpleural vessels by real-time confocal laser scanning luminescence microscopy is limited to vessels with up to 50 µm in diameter3.
We provide a technique to study HPV of murine intra-pulmonary arteries in the range of 20-100 µm inner diameters. It is based on the videomorphometric analysis of cross-sectioned arteries in precision cut lung slices (PCLS). This method allows the quantitative measurement of vasoreactivity of small intra-acinar arteries with inner diameter between 20-40 µm which are located at gussets of alveolar septa next to alveolar ducts and of larger pre-acinar arteries with inner diameters between 40-100 µm which run adjacent to bronchi and bronchioles. In contrast to real-time imaging of subpleural vessels in anesthetized and ventilated mice, videomorphometric analysis of PCLS occurs under conditions free of shear stress. In our experimental model both arterial segments exhibit a monophasic HPV when exposed to medium gassed with 1% O2 and the response fades after 30-40 min at hypoxia.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating clinical condition causing permanent changes in sensorimotor and autonomic functions of the spinal cord (SC) below the site of injury. The secondary ischemia that develops following the initial mechanical insult is a serious complication of the SCI and severely impairs the function and viability of surviving neuronal and non-neuronal cells in the SC. In addition, ischemia is also responsible for the growth of lesion during chronic phase of injury and interferes with the cellular repair and healing processes. Thus there is a need to develop a spinal cord ischemia model for studying the mechanisms of ischemia-induced pathology. Focal ischemia induced by photothrombosis (PT) is a minimally invasive and very well established procedure used to investigate the pathology of ischemia-induced cell death in the brain. Here, we describe the use of PT to induce an ischemic lesion in the spinal cord of mice. Following retro-orbital sinus injection of Rose Bengal, the posterior spinal vein and other capillaries on the dorsal surface of SC were irradiated with a green light resulting in the formation of a thrombus and thus ischemia in the affected region. Results from histology and immunochemistry studies show that PT-induced ischemia caused spinal cord infarction, loss of neurons and reactive gliosis. Using this technique a highly reproducible and relatively easy model of SCI in mice can be achieved that would serve the purpose of scientific investigations into the mechanisms of ischemia induced cell death as well as the efficacy of neuroprotective drugs. This model will also allow exploration of the pathological changes that occur following SCI in live mice like axonal degeneration and regeneration, neuronal and astrocytic Ca2+ signaling using two-photon microscopy.

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